Sudan's Rebecca Garang in Washington
Sudan-USA, Politics, 2/2/2006

Sudan's minister of roads and transport, Rebecca Garang, said she is committed to the Cabinet position she holds with the government of Southern Sudan because she painfully has traveled her nation's disastrous roads and knows how vital decent transportation routes are to her people's efforts to move their produce to market.

Garang, widow of Sudanese First Vice President John Garang, who was killed in a helicopter crash in July 2005, was welcomed by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick yesterday.

Zoellick said the two officials had discussions dealing with "the development of the South [of Sudan], the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) process and also issues of Darfur." He said their talks focused on the importance of the construction and building process, the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan ending a 21-year conflict, "and the need for follow-through on the terms, including the number of commissions that have been set up."

"We focused in particular on the need for the transparent distribution of some of the oil revenues that come in," Zoellick told a news media briefing. "We also talked about Darfur and the challenges there, which we've been working on not only in humanitarian terms but in close contact with the African Union Mission and the African Union political process." He said this entailed plans to move the AMIS (African Union Mission in Sudan) peacekeeping mission "to a blue-hatted UN operation in concert with the African Union and the European Union, which we hope to do during the month of February, when the United States is chair of the UN Security Council."

The Abuja peace process was also on the agenda, he said, adding that his colleague Roger Winter "is in Abuja right now because while we need to strengthen the security, ultimately we have to reach a peace resolution between the rebel groups and the government of national unity, and of course the SPLM (Sudan People's Liberation Army) can play a role in that as well."

Peace talks between rebel groups and the government have been ongoing in Abuja, Nigeria.

Garang said she is minister of roads and transport for a purpose: "My husband used to say that Southern Sudan has never seen a tarmac road since its creation! Ambassador Zoellick is my witness."

She also noted that Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazier also could attest to the terrible road conditions in Southern Sudan from her recent trips there and could not even stay overnight, as "there is no hotel in Southern Sudan."

"So development in Southern Sudan is very vital, and I'm part and parcel of that," Garang said. She mentioned her four years of living in the US state of Iowa with her husband and their travels around the United States. They traveled to Michigan, to Pennsylvania, to New Jersey and to Canada "using a small car.... We slept wherever we wanted to sleep -- but in Southern Sudan we can't dream of that! To go 50 kilometers would take you, maybe, two days. So that is why I took over this ministry."

She said that when the American people support the CPA, they are supporting Darfur, because "the people of Darfur will know that once peace is achieved, there (will be) a peace dividend."

Zoellick said Garang "will have the opportunity to follow up with Frazier; she will have a number of meetings over the course of the next week and we may get back together after that too before I go overseas myself."

Previous Stories:
  US: Sudan rebels gave commitment to be in negotiation talks   (11/22/2005)
  US opens new consulate in Juba, Sudan   (11/17/2005)
  US Zoellick says Sudan at critical juncture   (11/10/2005)

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